Potted film reviews by Gary Anthony Cross

September 7, 2016

Red (2010)

A retired C.I.A. operative is targeted for elimination and so he reunites with his former colleagues to strike back at the assassins.

Red is a comic strip action film based on a DC Comics series about ex-spies who come out of retirement and teach the new young whippersnappers how it’s done. The tone is very lighthearted despite the amount of fire power on show and it embraces the concept of “geriaction” wholeheartedly. I must admit I was expecting something a little more substantial considering the heavyweight cast however, as Red is little more than an episodic series of shoot outs combined with a few quips about ageing. The quality cast do keep the story entertaining enough, although it is slightly cringeworthy watching an actor of John Malkovich’s calibre gurning and prat-falling like an elderly Howling Mad Murdoch; in fact the whole film feels very much like an extended episode of The Aged-Team. It’s all very slight and rarely laugh out loud funny leaving Red feeling like nothing more than a sitcom with a body count.

Despite the big names involved, The Losers was very similar and rather better.